Villanova crushes Michigan 79-62 for second national title in three years

SAN ANTONIO — Maybe it was Villanova sixth man Donte DiVincenzo’s night of nights at the offensive end. Or maybe it was the Wildcats’ relentless rebounding. Or might it have been the highest-scoring team in the country’s own brand of lockdown defense, which is ferocious when it needs to be?

What was the key to the Wildcats’ 79-62 romp against Michigan in the NCAA title game? It was all of those things and more, of course.

Even on a night when national player of the year Jalen Brunson struggled with his post-up game and got into foul trouble, the big Cats roared. Even when Eric Paschall and Omari Spellman provided little offensive punch, things were almost never in doubt.

There can be no doubt about which was the best team in the land this season. It was 36-4 Villanova, which became the fourth team to rip through six NCAA Tournament victories by double-digit margins. Michigan State did it in 2000, Duke a year later and North Carolina in 2009.

Michigan (33-8) gave it a memorable run, winning the Big Ten tournament and then vanquishing five more foes in the Big Dance. But coach John Beilein was left one victory short of 800 for his great career. The Wolverines still are searching for their first title since 1989; they’ve been runners-up four times since.

And the Big Ten? Still no titles since the aforementioned Michigan State team cut down the nets. That’s 18 years and counting, during which time the Atlantic Coast Conference has won seven of them, the Big East seven (including Louisville’s vacated title in 2013) and the Southeastern Conference three.

Brunson, the former Stevenson star, joins an exclusive list of players of the year to win the title in the same season. The last four were Kansas’ Danny Manning in 1988, Duke’s Christian Laettner in 1992, Duke’s Shane Battier in 2001 and Kentucky’s Anthony Davis in 2012.

DiVincenzo finished with 31 points, the most for a non-starter in a title game and the most in a title game since Manning scored 31 in 1988.

Bulls guard Ryan Arcidiacono, a captain of the Wildcats’ 2016 title team, stood arm-in-arm on the court with former teammate Kris Jenkins after the game and recalled how DiVincenzo missed out on the fun as a redshirt that season.

‘‘Man, we knew how bad he wanted it,’’ Arcidiacono said.

Jenkins, who made the buzzer-beating three-pointer to beat North Carolina for the title two years ago, watched a crowd of reporters nearly swallow DiVincenzo whole.

‘‘Have yourself a moment, ’Cenzo!’’ Jenkins shouted.

Villanova has its second championship in three years. Coach Jay Wright, once known as a guy who didn’t win the big one, now stands at the top of the heap.

How far the big ’Cats have come from their first title, which came in one of the greatest upsets of all time against Georgetown in 1985. Now it’s ’Nova the rest of the country is chasing.